Galal Yafai to receive unified title opportunity.
For those who know him, Galal Yafai is one of the standout talents in lower-weight boxing.
Such was the hype behind him after his gold medal victory at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Yafai made his professional debut in a 10-round fight, winning the WBC international flyweight title in a stoppage over Mexico’s Carlos Vado Bautista.
Yafai would continue to face very experienced opposition for someone with extremely limited time in the paid ranks, and only four fights into his career, it was obvious he was well above everyone else in the domestic scene. This was evidenced by him obliterating former British and Commonwealth champion Tommy Frank in a single round.
A few fights later, and Yafai battered defensive specialist Sunny Edwards, the former world champion who had only lost to Jesse Rodríguez.
With this win, Yafai picked up the WBC interim flyweight title, which put him in line for a shot at the full WBC championship.
But first, he would face Francisco Rodríguez Jr., the former unified super-strawweight champion.
This would end up going terribly wrong, as Yafai was beaten black and blue by the Mexican, who bombed him to the canvas in the last round.
Yafai displayed heart in abundance by lasting the distance, but he had been handily beaten.
However, Sunny Edwards (Yafai’s retired former opponent) raised his suspicions while on commentary that Rodríguez’s relentless pace throughout the fight was very unusual.
And so, it would then come out that Rodríguez had tested positive for heptaminol, a banned stimulant specifically meant for boosting cardio.
Yafai was reinstated as the interim champion, and the British Boxing Board of Control overturned his loss to a no-contest. However, BoxRec is yet to do the same.
Though a rematch between Yafai and Rodríguez was initially ordered, this was overturned. And despite the disgrace of the Rodríguez fight, Yafai will now get his big opportunity.
That’s because Matchroom Boxing announced today that they have won purse bids for a fight between Galal Yafai (9-1, 7 KOs) and WBC and WBA flyweight champion Ricardo Sandoval (27-2, 18 KOs).
Sandoval was awarded a very close decision over Kenshiro Teraji in July of 2025 to win the belts, and he will be making his first defence against Yafai.
The date and venue are to be announced shortly.
World Title shot incoming for Galal Yafai
🔜🤝 @DAZNBoxing
Purse bid won 👑👑 #AndTheNew pic.twitter.com/xJz0Ycftb0
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) March 13, 2026
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